PREVALENCE OF CERVICAL HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION AMONG WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE IN FMC ASABA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Background: Cervical Human Papillomavirus infection prevalence varies with differentenvironments. Knowledge of this will help in some cervical cancer interventions such as earlyand continuous screening. This study is aim at determining the prevalence of cervical HPVinfection among women of childbearing age attending Federal Medical Center Asaba, Nigeria.Materials and methods: A total of 99 consenting women aged between (20 -45) years wererandomly recruited and screened for HPV infection using virtual inspection by acetic acid (VIA)method. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain the demographic characteristics, biodata and reproductive history of the participants. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSSstatistics version 21. Results: The result shows that 21(21.21%) out of 99 women thatparticipated in the study were VIA positive. 16(76.19%) out of the 21 HPV infected womenshowed cervicitis, 4(19.05%) had cervical polyps, 1 (4.16%) had invasive cervical cancer while,1(4.16%) of the participants had HPV only. Age-specific prevalence was highest among the agegroup 36 – 40 years with age groups 20 – 25 and 41-45 having the same value. Conclusions:HPV prevalence rate is high among the study population especially in women of aged between(36-40) years. Early commencement of sexual intercourse among others was associated withHPV positive. Advanced and effective method of screening is highly recommended in lowincome settings. Urgent and adequate interventions is recommended for regular HPV screeningamong women of reproductive age to reduce the spread of cervical cancer.